Nastasic Move to Roma in Doubt?

While most of us were necessarily upset when Antonio Rüdiger was shipped off to Chelsea for €35 million plus bonuses, the rage quickly subsided as the rumors of Matija Nastasic began to pick up steam. Nastasic, who remains young enough to fulfill the enormous promise he showed in his (extremely) early twenties with Fiorentina and Manchester City, profiled as the perfect Monchi pick: a shrewd gamble on an intelligent and slightly overlooked prospect. If all went according to plan, we’d forget about Rüdiger in no time.

Of course, for that plan to come to fruition Roma had to, you know, actually sign Nastasic from Schalke; a minor plot point that may have just been derailed. Embroiled in atypically clandestine negotiations, Roma and their German counterparts seemed to be making headway on a €12 million move for the 24-year-old defender, headway that has reportedly been scuppered by a three million discrepancy in Nastasic’s value.

With Schalke holding firm to their €15 million valuation of the young Serb, talks off reportedly broken off between the two clubs, as Sky Sport Italia reports Roma has walked away from the negotiating table, not willing to fork over the three million and seemingly unable (at this time) to meet Schalke halfway.

But what’s three million between friends? I find it hard to believe, or at least I hope, that three million would completely kill this deal. At this point in the game, Nastasic may be the best deal, in terms of finances and tactics, that Roma could possibly hope for; Nastasic is young, talented and could prove to be a HUGE bargain.

So keep your fingers crossed that cooler heads prevail in this one.